MICHAEL LEE JOHNSON

MICHAEL LEE JOHNSON

CHICAGO STREET PREACHER (V4)

Street preacher

server of the Word,

pamphlet whore, hand out

delivery boy,

fanatic of sidewalk vocals,

banjo strummer, seeker of coins,

crack cocaine and salvation within notes.

Camper on 47th from Ashland

to California promoting his

penniless life, gospel forever

Kingdom drifter here comes your reward.

FIG TREE (V2)

Fig tree, fruit to all those

come and gone,

stare down your branches

with your human eyes:

God give us this day;

distressed fathers,

deceased mothers-

children chatter on sidewalks,

play hopscotch.

In the forest, construction men

cut the wood, make naked landscapes-

strong men, strong lives.

We all stop to contemplate

this theorem.

REINCARNATION (V4)

Next life I will be a little higher up the pecking order.

No longer a dishwasher at the House of Pancakes

or Ricky’s All Day Grill, or Sunday night small dog thief.

I will evolve into the Prince of Bullfrogs.  Crickets don’t bother me.

Swamp flies don’t bother me–I eat them.  Alligators I avoid.

I urinate on lily pads, mate across borders and continents at will.

Someone else from India can wash my dishes for me.

Forward all complaints to the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

LORIE

Lorie, you want to see me clearly

through this joy of my naked body

avoiding the sweat of my emotions,

just breathing on my neck

rubbing this baseline of my groin-

will not find us here again.

Go away, leave me thinking

louder than your breath-

body moves quietly

in a lazy sway of indifference.

MICHAEL LEE JOHNSON

MICHAEL LEE JOHNSON lived 10 years in Canada during the Vietnam era and is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada.  Today he is a poet, freelance writer, amateur photographer, and small business owner in Itasca, Illinois.  Mr. Johnson published in more than 1042 new publications, his poems have appeared in 38 countries, he edits, publishes 10 poetry sites.  Michael Lee Johnson, has been nominated for 2 Pushcart Prize awards poetry 2015/1 Best of the Net 2016/2 Best of the Net 2017, 1 Best of the Net 2018.  170 poetry videos are now on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNQ4oRHf8Zz0TOc-9zr3Q9w. Editor-in-chief poetry anthology, Moonlight Dreamers of Yellow Haze: